Apparatus for handling tube-plates.



, Patented Dec. 'I6 J. J. BDAX. APPARATUS F03 HANDLING TUBE PLATES.

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APPARATUS-FOR HANDLING TUBE PLATES.

(Application mea Feb. 25, 1902*] (llodlodel.)

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Nrrnn STATES nreNT OFFICE.

JOI-IN J. BOAX, OF MCKEESPORT, PENNSYLVANIA, ASSIGNOR TO NATIONAL TUBE COMPANY, OF PITTSBURG, PENNSYLVANIA, A CORPORATION OB" NEW JERSEY.

APPARATUSy FOR HANDLING TUBE-PLATES.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent N o. 71 5,746, dated December '16, 1902.

Application filed February 25,1902. Serial No. 95,533. (No model.)

To @ZZ whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, JOHN J. BOAX, a resident of McKeesport, in the county of Allegheny and State of Pennsylvania, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Apparatus for Handling Tube-Plates; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and eXact description thereof. Y

My invention relates to apparatus for transio ferring tube-plates or the like to the mechanism whereby the same are charged into the welding-furnace; and its object is to provide apparatus for this purpose whereby all hand labor is dispensedwith and the plates deposi5 ited on the charging mechanism in better position for charging than by hand labor.

In the manufacture of tubing, and more especially butt-weld tubing, the most approved present method consists in charging fiat 2o plates into the welding-furnace through an opening in lthe rear wall thereof, and after said plates have been raised to a welding temperature drawing the same out through the front end of the furnace and through welding-bells, whereby the plate is bent into tubular form and its edges butt-welded together. In carrying out this process the plates may be charged into the furnace either by hand or by suitable mechanical charging 3o mechanism.

My invention relates more especially to the machine-charging process, although certain features of it may be used with hand-charged furnaces. Heretofore mechanical chargers have been used which were movable laterally of the furnace, so as to charge the plate into the furnace into the vacant space on the hearth, it being understood that a number of plates will be heating simultaneously side by 4o side on the furnace-hearth. My invention does not contemplate any change in this charging mechanism, but relates to apparatus for transferring the. plates to and depositing them u pon either suitable su pports at the rear of the furnace, from which the plates may be hand-charged,vor upon the mechanical charging mechanism. Heretofore the plates have been .transferred to the supports or charging mechanism entirely by hand. This not only necessitates eXtra help, but it isa tedious and 5o diflicult task. By reason of the flexibility of the plates they bend to such an extent when lifted that it is difficult to handle them. This difficulty is further increased in the case of plates for making large tubes by reason of their weight. Furthermore, it has recently been proposed to make tubes of double the standard length, and the difficulty of handlin g the very long plates necessary therefor is very great, the plates being so flexible that 6o they cannot be handled by a man at each end thereof.

The object of my invention -is to provide apparatus for handling tube-plates,l so as t0 dispense with the hand laborlnow used and makeit possible to easilyhandle plates of any length or flexibility.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure l is an end elevation of the rear end of a furnace, the charging mechanism, andv my im- 7o proved transferring apparatus. Fig. 2 is a side view of the same. Fig. 3 is a side view of one of the grapples or tongs employed, showing the same in position to be engaged with a pile of plates. Fig. ais a similar view showing the tongs in position to lifta pile of plates. Fig. 5 is a similar view showing the tongs opened, so as to release the pile'of plates; and Fig. 6 is a transverse vertical section of said tongs. 8o

The welding-furnace is shown at 1, and this may be of the usual construction, preferably being heated by gas and of the regenerative type. The hearth is shown at 2, and in the rear wall of the furnace is an opening 3,v through which the plates are charged into the furnace. The hearth of the furnace will be of such width that there may be simultaneously heating thereon a sufficient number of plates (five or more) to keep the drawing 9o and welding apparatus in practically continuous operation. At the rear of the furnace is the charging mechanism 5, and as said mechanism should preferably vcharge the plates into any one of the positions on the hearth it will be laterally movable. as. shown, being mounted on wheels or rollers 6, running on the tracks 7. It may be moved laterally by any suitable mechanism, but preferably is of the traction type and moved by a motor mounted on the carriage. This charging mechanism forms no part of my invention and may be of any preferred construction, and I have therefore shown the same largely diagrammatically. On this charging mechanism is a suitable support or trough 10 for receiving the plates and from which they are pushed into the furnace by suitable reciprocating mechanism, which is not shown in the drawings, as it forms no part of nor is it necsary for an understanding of my invention.

In tube plants the plates are usually brought from the rolling-mill to the weldingfurnaces on suitable trucks or cars, such as at 12, running upon tracks laid in the mill. My apparatus is designed to take the plates from these trucks or cars and transfer them to the support 10 of the charging mechanism. The transferring apparatus comprises a suitable crane or trolley and tongs or grapples carried thereby for engagingthe plates,lifting the same from the truck, and carrying them to and depositing them upon the charging mechanism. The crane or the trolley may be of any preferred type, and l have shown for this purpose an overhead electric trolley 15, running on the beams or bridge 16, said trolley being propelled along said beams on wheels driven from a motor mounted directly on the trolley, as is now well understood. This motor is shown diagrammatically at 17 and the wheels at 1S. Also mounted on the trolley are the motors 19,which are geared to the hoisting-drums 20, one at each end of the trolley. Connected to these drums by suitable means, such as the cables 21, is a longitudinal beam 22, which will be nearly the length of the tube-plates to be handled. To steady the up-and-down movement of this beam, suitable standards 23 are connected thereto and pass up through guides 24, secu red to the trolley. The beam 22 will be elevated and lowered by the motor 19 in the usual way of operating hoisting apparatus, and the trolley will be moved along the bridge 16 by means of the motor 17,these operations being under the control of an attendant located in the pulpit of the crane or other suitable place. The particular trolley shown, however, is not necessary, as any suitable form of trolley and hoisting apparatus may be used, the only essential so far described being the beam 22. To this beam will be attached the tongs or grapples 25 for carrying the tube-plates, a series of such tongs being used, so as to sup port the plates at various points along their lengths and prevent them from sagging. In the drawings six such tongs are shown; but it will be understood that either a greater or lesser number may be used, depending upon the length of the plates. These tongs are preferably so constructed as to automatically open and close by raising or lowering the same, thus making it unnecessary to operate them by hand. Each of these tongs comprises gle-links.

a pair of jaws 26, pivoted together at 27 and terminating at their lower ends in hooks 28, the ends of the jaws being beveled away on their inner sides, as at 29, fora purpose which will hereinafter appear. These jaws are extended beyond the pivot 27 to form the levers 30, which are so connected to the beam 22 that the act of lifting the same will close the tongs. This may be accomplished by having the levers cross each other and connecting their upperends to the beam bysuitable links or chains, as is the common manner of suspending self-closing tongs. I prefer, however, to have said levers not cross each other, but to bend outwardly, as shown, and then inwardly with their upper ends crossing. Between these levers in the opening thus formed is located the lifting-block 3l, which is connected to a suitable bracket or hanger 32, secured to the beam 22. By lifting on said hanger 32 the block 3l will be carried up into the angle between the upper ends of the levers 30, thus tending to crowd them apart and close the jaws 26. To secure this result, the tongs must be free to move vertically with reference to the hanger, and therefore the pivot 27 is not secured to the hanger, but is merely guided in open slots 33 in the lower end thereof. To each of the jaws below the pivot 27 is pivoted a link 34, the inner ends of these links being hinged together at 35, thus forming, in effect, tog- The meeting ends of the links are provided with the projections 36, which not only weight said ends, so that the links will when free to do so fall downwardly to the position shown in Fig. 4; but said projections will also form a means for tripping or opening the tongs, as will hereinafter appear. The outer ends of the levers 30 are provided with suitable stops, such as the pins 37, which will contact with the sides of the hanger 32 and prevent the inward hooks from closing beyond a certain distance.

We will assume that the tongs are openthat is, in the position shown in Fig. 5--and that they have just delivered a pile of plates to the charging mechanism. The beam 22 will then be raised and the trolley propelled along the bridge 16 to bring the tongs above a pile of plates on the cars or trucks. Dur ing this carrying of the tongs the links 34 will remain in the position shown in Fig. 5- that is, with their pivotal point 35 above the line drawn through their endsand since the tongs are suspended from the block 31 there is a tendency to force the jaws 26 together. The weight of the tongs is sufficient to overcome the tendency of the weighted pivotal ends of the links 34 to drop, and hence said links cannot straighten out and drop below their horizontal position, but must remain in their elevated position up in the angle between the jaws 26, as shown in Fig. 5, thus holding the tongs open. When the tongs have been brought over the desired pile of plates, they are lowered in such position that IOO the inclined face 29 on one of the hooks will contact with the edge of the pile of plates, as shown in Fig. 3.` The effect of this is to crowd said jaw to one side, or, in other words, to open the jaws still further. This will permit the toggle-links to straighten out, and a's soon as said links have reached the horizontal position the weights 36 will naturally drop, and the closing` of the tongs will thereby be automatically initiated, and when the hooks pass below the pile of plates next to be lifted the weights 36 will naturallycontinue the closing motion, drawing the hooks under the pile of plates. as the tongs have been lowered sufficiently to have the hooks 28 come below the pile of plates the hoisting apparatus is operated to lift the tongs, and as the pivot 27 is free to move in the hangers 32 vthe first upward movement will be limited to the hangers 32. The effect of this movement is to carry the block 3l up into the angle between the levers 30 and crowd them apart, thus closing the tongs upon the pile of plates. The pile is then lifted and carried by the trolley into position over the support on the charging mechanism and is lowered upon said support. The lowering operation is continued for a short distance after the plates rest upon said support, so that the projections 36 on the toggle-links will contact with the upper face of the plates, as shown in Fig. 5, and move the links to a position above the horizontal line passing through their points of attachment to the jaws. When the hangers 32 are then lifted, the first effect is to crowd the levers 30 apart, thus giving sufficient pressure to prevent the weights 36 from straightening the toggle-links to permit the jaws to close, and the tongs will thus be held open until again closed in a manner heretofore described. It will thus be seen that the opening and the closing of the tongs is entirely automatic. To facilitate the handling of these plates, they will be loaded on the trucks l2 in piles containing the number necessary to charge one plate into every position on'the hearth of the furnace, the piles shown in the drawings comprising six'plates. These piles will be separated from each other on the truck, preferably by interposing therebetween blocks of Wood 38, thereby leaving spaces which Willpermit the hooks to grasp the pile. When the pile is deposited upon the charging 1nechanism,.the latter will preferably be at one side of the furnace-opening, as shown in Fig. l, and as said plates are charged successively into the furnace the charging mechanism is moved laterally across the end of the furnace until when the last plate is charged into the furnace the mechanism will be on the opposite side of the furnace-opening. Naturally the plate first charged in will be the first drawn out, so that the charging of the next pile of plates must begin in the first positionthat is, the one shown in Fig. l-and the charging-carriage will be brought back to this Therefore as soon position. As a consequence the carriage will always be in this position when receiving the pile`of plates from'the transferring apparatus. This position can be definitely fixed, and suitable stops may be provided for stopping both the charging-carriage and the trolley in such position that the support of the charging mechanism will be directly below the tongs. Any suitable stops for this purpose may be used-such, for instance, as abutments 39 on the mill-door, against which the charging mechanism will strike, and abutments 40 on the bridge 16. These abutment-s, and especially the latter, will `oe adjustable in any suitable way, since the trolley will have to move over a little farther when Wide plates are to be transferred to the charging mechanism than when narrow plates are S0 transferred.

By means of the mechanism described tubeplates ofanydesired length and tiexibilitycan be transferred from the cars and deposited upon the charging mechanism without hand labor, as the opening and closing of the tongs is done automatically by'raisin'g and lowering they same. The plates can also be transferred to the charging mechanism in such number as to completely charge the furnace from one pile of plates, and in that way the intervals between the charging of the successive plates can be made practically uni- 'form and a more even and continuous operation of the furnace secured. The grapples are adapted for handling various articles other than tube-plates. l

What I claim as my invention, and desire tovsecure vby Letters Patent, is

l. In transferring apparatus, the combination with suitable hoisting apparatus, of tongs or a grapple carried thereby, means connected to said tongs and arranged by contact with the work' to automatically open the tongs and hold the same open, and other means on said tongs arranged by contact with they closing of work to automatically initiate the said tongs.

2. In transferring apparatus, the combination of hoisting apparatus, and tongs carried' thereby, said tongs comprising levers pivoted together and'having hooks at their lower,y

ends, means for connecting the upper ends of said levers to the hoisting apparatus where-V by the raising of the tongs will close the same, toggle-links connected to said levers below the pivotal point, and a projection' or projections on said toggle-links adapted to contact with the plate to openthe tongs.v

3. In transferring apparatus, the combination of suitable hoisting apparatus, and tongs carried thereby, said tongs comprising levers pivoted together and having hooks at their lower ends, connections between the upper ends of the levers andthe hoisting apparatus whereby the lifting of the tongs will close the'Vy same, and toggle-links connecting saidlevers below the pivot, said links being weighted at or near their pivotal point.

IOO

IIO

4. In transferring apparatus, the combination of suitable hoisting apparatus, and tongs carried thereby, said tongs comprising levers pivoted to each other between their ends and having their lower ends forming jaws, means for connecting the upper ends of said levers to the hoisting apparatus, whereby the lifting of the tongs will close the same, togglelinks connected to said levers below the pivot, and an inclined face on one or both of the jaws and adapted by contact with the work to automatically initiate the closing of the tongs.

5. In transferring apparatus, the combination of suitable hoisting apparatus, and tongs carried thereby, said tongs comprising levers pivotally connected together between their ends and having their lower ends forming shouldered hooks provided with outwardlyinclined faces on their inner sides below said hooks, means for connecting the upper ends of said levers to the hoisting apparatus whereby the lifting of the tongs will close the same, and toggle-links connected to said levers below the pivot.

G. In transferring apparatus, the combination of suitable hoisting apparatus, and tongs carried thereby, said tongs comprising levers pivoted together, a hanger connected to the hoisting apparatus and having a block for engaging said levers and havinga slotted connection with the pivot of said levers, whereby the raising of the tongs will close the same, and toggle-links connecting said levers below their pivot.

7. In apparatus for handling tube-plates, the combination with a furnace, of a support for the plates at the rear thereof, hoisting apparatus arranged to move transversely of said support, tongs carried by said hoisting apparatus, and means connected to said tongs and arranged by contact with the plates to open said tongs and hold the same open, and other means arranged by contact with the work to close the tongs.

8. In apparatus for handling tube-plates, the combination with a furnace, of charging mechanism in front of the same, an overhead traveling crane, a series of tongs carried thereby, and means connected to each of said tongs and arranged by contact with the plates to open said tongs and hold the same open, and other means arranged by contact with the work to close the tongs.

In testimony whereof I, the said JOI-IN J.

BOAX, have hereunto set my hand.

JOHN J. BOAX. Witnesses:

ROBERT C. ToTTEN, F. W. WINTER. 

